This invention relates to a fluid spray device, in particular, to a handheld water powered spray device having detachable accessories.
Conventional water spray devices are in widespread use in many household, commercial and industrial applications. For example, in the household, spray devices are in use in kitchens and bathrooms for spraying items in the kitchen sink or washing the bathroom shower. There are also many spray devices designed for adaptation to garden hoses for watering plants and the like, washing cars, driveways and the outside of a house or building. Spray devices are also used for cleaning applications in industrial and commercial settings such as restaurants or factories.
Many conventional water spray devices perform only the function of spraying water in a single pattern. Some conventional water spray devices permit the user to change the spray pattern of the spray device by providing a multi-ported or variable patterned spray head.
Another feature employed in many spray devices is the use of a reservoir on or in the spray device itself that permits the introduction of liquid cleaning agents such as soap into the water stream. Other spray devices use water as power to drive a transmission for rotating a brushing device fixed to the end of the spray device. Such transmissions are typically turbine like devices, which are rotated by water jets directed at blades on the turbine. The turbine is in most cases coupled to a gearing arrangement that in turn rotates the brushing device. Some water powered spray devices are designed to evacuate the water from the chamber holding the turbine and gear arrangement while other spray devices allow the turbine and gear arrangement to remain submerged in the chamber.
A majority of spray devices utilizing turbines or the like have the drawback of being very large and cumbersome because they are designed for applications such as washing floors, automobiles, boats, buildings and cannot be fully operated with a single hand. Although such devices must typically be held by both hands of the user to operate, they are not handheld devices within the sense of the present invention because the user cannot operate all features of the device with the single hand holding the device.
In addition, the brushing devices of existing water powered spray devices are not easily removable from the body holding the brushing device. No water powered devices are known having detachable accessories that provide either rotational motion or linear motion.
Water spray devices used in kitchens and bathrooms also have several drawbacks. For example, spray devices used in kitchens typically provide a spray only mode. Some spray devices used at kitchen sinks provide an internal soap reservoir and permit the user to attach a brushing device to the head of the water spray device. However, in such devices neither water, soap or a water soap mixture is directed into the brush head but rather from and through the spray head of the spray device. Moreover, no apparatus for rotating the brushing device is provided in such devices.
In the operation of a water spray device having a soap reservoir and a non-rotating brush, a user may first spray water on the item to be washed. After the item is wetted, the user may then dispense soap directly onto the application in the same manner as a plastic soap bottle is squeezed. After the soap has been applied to the item, the operator must manually scrub the item by using stroking motions.
If the user desires to add additional water to the application to aid in foaming of the soap, the user would have to pull the single trigger to spray more water onto the item being washed. Such operation causes the soap to be rinsed off and the sprayed water to be deflected off the item itself and onto the user or surrounding environment. In addition, the user may have to repeat the foregoing process several times to reach the desired soap to water ratio or foaming result.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a handheld water powered spray device that provides a soap reservoir and a soap water mixture control, that is capable of receiving detachable accessories, and that provides a power output source available to power the detachable accessories in either a rotational or linear motion.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a handheld water powered spray device is provided that comprises a soap reservoir and a soap water mixture control, is capable of receiving detachable accessories, and provides a water powered output source to power the detachable accessories in either a rotational or linear motion.